A/HRC/33/61 52. Colonial history, the legacies of enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, and policies on race remain a serious challenge in many countries. They strengthened a view of the world that did not consider the perspectives of Africans and people of African descent. Stereotyping is a disturbing phenomenon worldwide. An Afro-centric perspective would pave the way to a more informed world view. 53. The systemic discrimination and the construction of structural and institutional invisibility faced by people of African descent stem from the fact that their history and their contributions to the development of civilization are not properly documented, and are at times rewritten, falsified and not made known to all. The administration of justice is an important way of eliciting the truth. Furthermore, for the full development of people of African descent, there must be recognition, justice and development. 54. Justice includes the totality of reparations, incorporating elements of restitution, compensation and satisfaction. In this light, the Ten-Point Action Plan CARICOM is seen by the Working Group as a creative way of weaving together different elements of reparatory justice. Apology, repatriation, indigenous people’s development, cultural institutions such as museums and research centres, public health initiatives, literacy, African knowledge programmes, technology transfer and debt cancellation, are among the points raised in this action plan. 55. The Working Group welcomes some States’ and civil society’s positive response to its plans aimed at looking into the programmes and policies of financial and development institutions from the perspective of people of African descent. The Working Group will take into consideration the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this regard, the Working Group will focus on the areas referred to in its mandate – investments in health systems, education, housing, electricity, drinking water and environmental control measures and promoting equal opportunities in employment – as well as other affirmative or positive measures and strategies within the human rights framework. 56. The Working Group stresses that there is a clear connection between poverty and racism. In countries that have a history of transatlantic trade in Africans, the demographic structure is such that the poorest population group is disproportionately composed of people of African descent. Faced with structural discrimination and invisibility, people of African descent encounter an uphill battle in claiming their rights, thus perpetuating multigenerational poverty. 57. The Working Group is deeply concerned by the alarming rates of police violence and the use of racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. People of African descent are disproportionately victims of such acts and are also denied justice. 58. The Working Group expresses its deep concern over the rise in xenophobia and attacks against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and over the racist language increasingly being used about them by some political parties. Hate speech is being used not only by extremist groups but also by politicians from across the political spectrum and in social media. 59. Sixty years after the anti-colonialist movements led to the independence of some countries, colonial-based educational materials and perspectives continue to negatively influence society. Many textbooks and reference works still contain racial biases and sexism and fail to consider Afrocentric perspectives. Many of these colonial-based educational materials reinforce negative and damaging stereotypes about people of African descent. 14